Treadmill walking exercise training and brain function in multiple sclerosis: Preliminary evidence setting the stage for a network-based approach to rehabilitation

Brian M Sandroff; Glenn R Wylie; Brad P Sutton; Curtis L Johnson; John DeLuca; Robert W Motl

doi:10.1177/2055217318760641

Treadmill walking exercise training and brain function in multiple sclerosis: Preliminary evidence setting the stage for a network-based approach to rehabilitation

Mult Scler J Exp Transl Clin. 2018 Feb 21;4(1):2055217318760641. doi: 10.1177/2055217318760641. eCollection 2018 Jan-Mar.

Authors

Brian M Sandroff¹, Glenn R Wylie², Brad P Sutton³, Curtis L Johnson⁴, John DeLuca², Robert W Motl¹

Affiliations

¹ University of Alabama at Birmingham, USA.
² Kessler Foundation, USA.
³ University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, USA.
⁴ University of Delaware, USA.

Abstract

Exercise training has been identified as a highly promising approach for managing the cognitive consequences of multiple sclerosis (MS). This study represents a secondary analysis of resting-state functional connectivity (RSFC) magnetic resonance imaging data from a pilot treadmill walking exercise training intervention for improving cognitive processing speed (CPS) in MS. There were large intervention effects on RSFC between the thalamus and right superior frontal gyrus (d = 1.92) and left medial frontal gyrus (d = 1.70). There further were moderate-to-large intervention effects on CPS (d = 0.72). Such preliminary data highlight FC within thalamocortical circuitry as a potential target for rehabilitation interventions for improving CPS in cognitively impaired individuals with MS.

Keywords: Exercise; cognition; functional connectivity; multiple sclerosis; neuroimaging; rehabilitation.